Hanukkah

Elli Fischer explores the ideological components of developments in Hanukkah traditions.

In the spirit of Hanukkah, Yaakov Jaffe offers an intriguing thesis tying together a series of Mishnayot in the fourth chapter of Pirkei Avot: they are all responding to various aspects of Epicurean philosophy.

Does halakhah have something to say about the subjectivity of aesthetic experience? Yosie Levine investigates the case of fashioning a replica Temple Menorah as adjudicated in the eighteenth century and what it can tell us about halachic thinking about art and aesthetics.

Joey Rosenfeld takes Kafka and Rav Nahman for a spin, on their timely drey-ing of the tops!

In his Yiddish poem "Hanukkah" (1932), Avrom Liessen poignantly recalled his early experience of the holiday. Dov Greenwood's vivid translation transports us into that wondrous world.

In his latest for the Lehrhaus, Aton Holzer sheds light on the hidden roots of Hanukkah–exploring the political and theological meaning of the holiday from the Second Temple period through the Talmud.

Yaakov Jaffe advocates adding a song to those sung while lighting Hanukkah candles.

Dan Margulies explores various opinions on where to light a Hanukah Lamp in dorms and apartments.

Through an analysis of Hanukkah ads, Yael Buechler explains how Yiddish newspapers used the Old Country language to acculturate Jews to the New Country.

Countless explanations have been offered to explain the debate between Beit Hillel and Beit Shamai as to whether we light the Hanukkah candles in ascending or descending order. Yet remarkably, Hannah Abrams manages to offer a strikingly novel reading of this debate. Her analysis is well worth the read.